Announced a few weeks ago, Microsoft is officially flipping the switch on transitioning SkyDrive into OneDrive. But it's not just a name change — the service boasts new features including camera uploads on Android, a new collaboration tool and better video handling.
Microsoft was forced to change the name of its cloud storage service after it lost a legal dispute with Sky Broadcasting in the U.K. It settled on the name OneDrive to emphasize the services as the "one place" for all of your content, and now that the update is rolling out, it's adding functionality as well as storage.
See also: 10 Things You Didn't Know Dropbox Could Do
First is automatic camera uploads on mobile. While the feature has existed on the SkyDrive apps for iOS and Windows Phone for a while, with the OneDrive switch it's coming to Android. At the same time, Microsoft is throw in 3GB of extra storage to anyone who turns on the feature (existing users will still get the bonus).
Camera uploads aren't the only way to get more storage. Everyone who signs up for a OneDrive account gets 7GB free, but if you invite others and they accept, you're rewarded with 500MB of of extra storage for each friend who redeems the invitation, for a maximum of 5GB. That's similar to Dropbox, although on that service the maximum bonus is 16GB.
With the OneDrive change, the service is also getting a couple of back-end changes that'll help specific features. First, collaborating on Office 365 documents is even more real-time than before, with character-by-character editing — characters will appear to other users immediately as you type.
OneDrive handles video better as well. Although high-quality video can be a bandwidth hog, leading to lags, OneDrive will implement MPEG-DASH, which dynamically adapts bandwidth conditions, so those cat videos you share won't take as long to stream.
Finally, Microsoft is introducing monthly payment options for its service, which was previously sold as a yearly service. The company is also giving away 100GB of free OneDrive storage to 100,000 customers — the equivalent of 10 petabytes of storage — to promote the new name.
Although today is the official switchover to OneDrive, you'll still see the SkyDrive branding in a few places. The Windows 8.1 app will remain SkyDrive until the next major Windows update. Also, Office 365 apps will still call it SkyDrive until the next service pack update.
OneDrive is the latest in a long list of names that Microsoft has had for its file-sharing service. Here's a visual summary of the many aliases used by the service formerly known as SkyDrive:

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